The present invention relates to improvements in or relating to apparatus for reheating molten steel in a ladle and under a shielding gaseous atmosphere. It is known that modern methods of reheating molten steel in a ladle before an actual casting operation requires, as a rule, the vacuumization of the metal, the heating electrodes being kept in their raised position, for example, in the absence of any metal-heating electric arc.
Therefore, such reheating apparatus must be so constructed that the ladle, its cover and the electrode housings constitute a sealed assembly. On the other hand, they must also enable the electrode to travel vertically and to pass through the ladle cover or the ladle containing vessel, while preserving a tightness such that, during the downward movement under degassing pressure (of the order of 0.5 to 1 torr, for example), no appreciable leakage occurs.